Apple Stock: Don’t Bet on the Battle for the Living Room

The Apple TV upgrade is reportedly being delayed

Apple (AAPL) has posted pretty impressive results so far this year, gaining almost 20% despite a small dip during yesterday’s trading. For reference, the broader basket of tech stocks in the Nasdaq have booked less than a quarter of that climb.

Source: Apple

But it hasn’t been all smooth sailing for the gadget-maker this year — especially when it comes to the so-called “battle for the living room.”

Between the Google (GOOG) Chromecast, Amazon (AMZN) Fire and, of course, offerings like Netflix (NFLX), it seems every tech giant is rushing to cater to the hoards of folks cutting the cord from cable. And the Apple TV was supposed to be an even more formidable foe with its 2014 upgrade.

Recent rumblings suggest that Apple is no longer planning to launch the new device this year, though — so hopefully AAPL stock investors weren’t betting on that new gadget when they took their long positions.

What went wrong with the Apple TV? Well, The Information noted in its coverage:

Apple employees have cited cable companies “dragging their heels” and the pending Comcast-Time Warner Cable merger as reasons the device and accompanying TV service haven’t launched.

That’s Apple perception, to be sure. On the content side, cable executives and TV programmers say Apple has bit off more than it can chew and deny they’re the holdup. They say Apple needs permission from multiple types of rights holders to create the service it wants to offer.

That’s not the only reason Apple stock investors shouldn’t hold their breaths for a blowout TV upgrade. More not-so-appealing news came when the company announced the Apple TV would feature full episodes from Fox and a live stream from CNBC (hooray!). The catch? In order to access that, users still must have a subscription to either a cable, satellite or telco TV provider that has deals with those programmers (boo).

So basically, it’s useless for us cord-cutters. Thanks for nothing, Apple.

Of course, it’s not like Apple stock investors have nothing else to look forward to. The company is slated to release the new iPhone 6, with the device’s announcement supposedly slated for Sept. 16 and the actual launch supposedly slated for Oct. 14. Plus, the recent report leaking those dates suggested Apple is going to have an “incredibly busy” October — potentially foreshadowing other product launches.

That’s just speculation, though. The one thing we know for sure? With the Apple TV now delayed, there is definitely a lot more riding on the new iPhone 6 launch this fall.

As of this writing, Robert Martin did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.